Petunias are fairly frost hardy and it takes a few hard frosts to kill them. I live in zone 3 and if we get snow early enough to protect them I've had the odd one winter over. Snapdragons are another annual that is pretty frost hardy. Mine were blooming this fall well into November.

Hello Donna, it's always amazing what will winter over in a season esp. if its considered an Annual. Sounds nice. I'm hoping my Rudbeckia's will winter over this season.

We're having a bitterly cold winter, but we've also had a heavy covering of snow since quite early. So, I'll be interested to see which of the hardy annuals pop up next spring. I always count on some of my snapdragons to return and provide early blooms. But, I also always sow new ones as insurance.

Hope everyone is safe and warm. Remember to check on your neighbors.

Martha

Hi, Donna. Petunias have always been very hardy for me. Just make sure that the plants have been watered in advance (a day or so) of a heavy freeze so that all of the cells are fully turgid.

Cold hardy plants make a plant version of anti-freeze, of which water is a component.

I thought petunias were frost sensitive - learned something new today :0)

I thought petunias were frost sensitive - learned something new today :0)

Good tip, rhizo. I didn't know it needed to be more than a few hours in advance.

thanks rhizo for the term turgid? i have a trailer load of pansy flats ready to plant here in michigan. gonna snow tommorrow so won't be planting till wednesday. i said to myself i better water them so they can handle the cold not sure why i even thought that would be a good idea other than i remember handling plants in past that were dry before a cold snap and they became lifeless and limp. now i know the science. thanks again!

Petunias and snapdragons are perennials-they are classified as tender perennials-but they are cold sensitive so they are grown as annuals in most areas. In my area, Southwest Ohio, my snaps and petunias will return if it has not been a hard winter. Needless to say, they will not be back this spring.

Linda

Last year I tried snapdragons for the first time. I like their look and supposedly they would reseed the area. However, I really liked them even more when I saw that they survived the cold weather that practically all my other plants had already succumbed to. As a result, it got more use in my yard this year.

I haven't been able to do the same with petunia, though, so I guess I'll keep trying. Gotta learn something about how to help it survive so I can get a "perennial" effect for the flower bed instead of working at it each spring.

Gardenper, I lived in a zone 8b location for many years. We found that pansies (of course) were the mainstay of the winter display, and there are sooo many choices these days! Also, Begonia semperflorens, and snaps, as long as it didn't get too much below freezing. Another plant to try in the winter is Sweet Alyssum. Beds of beautiful pansies bordered by the alyssum are very pretty.

Should displays of hardy flowering plants get a bit damaged by severe cold, try giving them a good haircut and see if they come back from the crown in a few days.

Though I am in a much colder climate now, pansies are planted in the fall and if nicely established will survive temperatures in the single digits.